Shireen Yacoub's graduation address (translated from the original Arabic)
Shireen is a lawyer who advocates for women in various civil rights cases under Jordanian law. As an Online Activism Institute participant, she completed the Create Your Activism Plan workshop and two rounds of the Political and Campaign Skills mentorship with Karen Johnson.
My name is Shireen Yacoub; I am a lawyer and an activist in the field of human rights, as well as a member of the Arab Organization for Human Rights and many other associations that work on spreading awareness of women's issues.
At the start when I applied to join the workshop in the spring, I thought the training would be traditional, like any other workshop, and that the trainers would be the same as any other trainers –- that once we finished the workshop and got our certificates, our relationship would end. But the Online Activism Institute and its trainers proved me wrong, as they were with us even after the workshop and mentorship finished.
This training had a great effect on my life. Before, I had goals, plans, and visions; [but] they were all just thoughts. I knew achieving them would take a lot of time, but with Karen and Samer's help, I was able to translate these thoughts into reality.
Through my work as a lawyer, I noticed that a lot of women, even highly-educated ones, don't know about the simplest of their rights. So my activism plan called for starting a legal aid unit to help women get their rights in Jordanian courts in accordance with international agreements, in addition to offering social and psychological help to women in need of it.
The goal of the training was change, and this change really happened with me. After the training and with Samer and Karen's help, I conducted field studies and did strategies to translate my plan into reality. Now I am in the process of establishing a center to offer legal help and information about human rights. You will be invited to the opening shortly. Through the OAI, I've also met a number of activists who have been very supportive of my ideas and my cause.
Finally, I'd like to thank the OAI for giving us this opportunity to create the change we want to achieve. I'd especially like to thank Samer and Karen, who have been a source of inspiration and help to me the whole time.
Shireen is a lawyer who advocates for women in various civil rights cases under Jordanian law. As an Online Activism Institute participant, she completed the Create Your Activism Plan workshop and two rounds of the Political and Campaign Skills mentorship with Karen Johnson.
My name is Shireen Yacoub; I am a lawyer and an activist in the field of human rights, as well as a member of the Arab Organization for Human Rights and many other associations that work on spreading awareness of women's issues. At the start when I applied to join the workshop in the spring, I thought the training would be traditional, like any other workshop, and that the trainers would be the same as any other trainers –- that once we finished the workshop and got our certificates, our relationship would end. But the Online Activism Institute and its trainers proved me wrong, as they were with us even after the workshop and mentorship finished.
This training had a great effect on my life. Before, I had goals, plans, and visions; [but] they were all just thoughts. I knew achieving them would take a lot of time, but with Karen and Samer's help, I was able to translate these thoughts into reality.
Through my work as a lawyer, I noticed that a lot of women, even highly-educated ones, don't know about the simplest of their rights. So my activism plan called for starting a legal aid unit to help women get their rights in Jordanian courts in accordance with international agreements, in addition to offering social and psychological help to women in need of it.
The goal of the training was change, and this change really happened with me. After the training and with Samer and Karen's help, I conducted field studies and did strategies to translate my plan into reality. Now I am in the process of establishing a center to offer legal help and information about human rights. You will be invited to the opening shortly. Through the OAI, I've also met a number of activists who have been very supportive of my ideas and my cause.
Finally, I'd like to thank the OAI for giving us this opportunity to create the change we want to achieve. I'd especially like to thank Samer and Karen, who have been a source of inspiration and help to me the whole time.